"I would like to say that Greece has had strategic partnership with Russia for many years, while also using weapons systems produced by the Russian defense industry. We are maintaining them in working condition and would like to discuss ways in which we can continue our cooperation," Kammenos said.
READ MORE: Russia Alarmed by NATO's Policy to Militarize Europe — Russian Defense Minister
The parties also discussed the increasing military presence of NATO in Europe.
"I propose to discuss the boosted presence of foreign NATO countries’ contingents and, in particular, those of the United States in Greece. We are registering the same process near our borders. Today, NATO’s military activity has reached an unprecedented level since the Cold War. The intensity and the scale of operational and combat training have increased," Shoigu said.
The Russian defense minister, on his part, added that he had also planned to discuss with Kammenos the situation in unstable regions, the number of which had been increasing over recent years.
In September, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford said that Greek Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, the chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, offered to expand US access to the country’s military bases. In addition, according to media reports, Greece and the United States are discussing the establishment of another US military base on Greek territory, specifically, planning to deploy US Patriot air defense missile systems and F-22 Raptor fighters on the island of Karpathos.
